Shadowing Practice: I've NEVER Seen A Climb This Hard.. And Nobody Talks About It - Learn English Speaking with Video

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In 2024 a boulder was climbed that almost nobody knows about Some believe that it's the hardest 9a out there,

but nobody really knows There's barely any footage and the footage that is is just obscure Is there in black and white?

Whatever it takes to climb this boulder almost no one has it But this guy is almost built for this boulder.

I couldn't ask for it to suit me much better.

He has climbed several of the hardest boulders out there.

This is of course Aidan Roberts, Britain's first V17 climber.

Aidan, who put it up, he's so good at the high angle crimps, like when the fingers are almost like a claw inside.

In March of 2024, he topped what he describes as the hardest boulder he's ever climbed ever climbed.

The hardest thing I've climbed by quite a good margin.

Today we are here to uncover some of that mystery and find out how hard this boulder really is.

We have arrived to arrival of the birds.

Now I am not a 9A crimp boulderer, so I've gathered someone who you might know from being a Super Smash Bros Elite,

Mr. Stefano Grisolfi.

Yeah, one of the world's best lead climbers.

Five gold medals to his name.

But he's been getting into bouldering the past year and a half or so as a casual hobby activity.

So I'm going to put him on one of the hardest boulders in the world

so we can see how somebody who has frequently strong fingers does on this type of climb.

Would we be able to do any of the moves?

Right next to Arrival there's a 7c plus that we decided to warm up on.

And then go all the way up.

OK.

Nice.

Come on.

Ah, OK.

Cool.

That's a really cool move.

Yeah.

Oh, OK.

Beating Stefano doesn't happen very often, if ever.

So this is probably my only chance.

Yes, nice.

Lower part.

Ooh, okay, okay.

Oh, easy.

Come on.

Go for it.

I think I put, yeah, like this.

Nice, easy.

No!

You want to try the top out?

Yeah.

Maybe if you could...

Yeah, that's what I was thinking.

You want to die?

No. Can you reach with the other hand?

Yeah.

Ah, yes!

How to flash a boulder?

Nice.

Easy.

Don't die now.

OK, we can do seven C's.

Let's hop on a 9A.

But first, Stefano discovered some new things.

Ladder is a game changer.

Yeah.

We use more.

Sport Clamber discovers ladder.

Yeah, you can even try the moves.

Wow. And brush the holes.

We just need a fan and then we have one with us actually.

After some important boulder prep...

He of course did the boulder quite chill.

Yup.

Yeah, so it was fun.

Yeah, nice.

And after that point, my little winning streak came to an abrupt end.

All right, time for Stefano to embarrass the living hell out of me on Arrival of the Birds.

The Italian Stallion!

You wanna give it a flash?

Flash!

Three ice cream flavors if you flash the first move.

Ah, the first move, okay.

Yeah, yeah.

I thought it would...

No, no, no, just the first move.

Okay.

Way too easy to miss.

Yeah.

You cannot even see it.

That's why it's, uh, tre gusti.

Ah, tre gusti.

I think it could be worth a bit more.

Okay, how many gusties do you want?

At least like a full vaschetta.

A full vaschetta?

No, non è vero, non ho parole.

For a vaschetta di gelato.

Oh, Madonna.

Wait, I have to try and give it a quick go first.

I know if I'm offering you too much with it.

My God.

I am not offering you too much with this.

What's up?

100

Okay, not bad.

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I was this close guys, this close.

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I almost had it.

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My entire body started vibrating.

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Come on.

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He's locked in.

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Oh!

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You wrapped a hold though, that's good.

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Okay, not bad.

109

Whoa!

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And then take it really good, it's hard.

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Because you ride like this and then you need to really go into this.

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This is gonna be hard I think.

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That's right.

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This one here.

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Okay.

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Let's see if I can hang at least.

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Starting hold.

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Dude, let's go!

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Okay.

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Dude, that was so good!

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I was just hanging.

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Yeah, but I didn't do any of the moves.

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No, but you were on the wall and you were impressive.

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You were on the wall.

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Dude, I'm psyched about that.

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It is small.

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You moved your feet and you had tension.

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Something doesn't make sense.

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We're in the middle of the Chino.

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A place where all the pros come to socialize and climb hard stuff.

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Alphane, which is one of the two V7 teams here, seems to get all the attention.

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Today we're gonna go to Alphane then.

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Alphane?

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We're here at Alphane.

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It is the most repeated 9A in the world.

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But this 9A doesn't get the same attention.

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Fesh, fesh, fesh, fesh.

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So no way.

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I mean what the fuck.

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But I think I'm starting to see why.

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I mean...

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Wow!

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Okay, the goal of today is just hang on every hold.

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Not even doing all the moves, just hang on every hold.

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There is...

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I cannot have that goal.

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Like, there is no way I can establish from the second move.

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Burden of Dreams.

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The iconic V17.

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The bowler that defines the grade.

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It has tiny holds.

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But they are holds.

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You know what, it's not even easy to touch these holds because they're almost nonexistent.

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Oh wait, I see the part.

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Okay.

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Trade this one.

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Okay.

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Come on dude.

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Ohhhh!

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Oh yeah, touching it is easy.

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Like really holding it is not easy.

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The holds on Burden...

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Yes!

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Yes!

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...are at least twice as big.

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I'm not saying it's twice as easy.

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Bird in his waist deeper at 45 degrees.

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This is a maybe 4mm sloped crimp for three fingers.

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Come on, come on.

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Lock it in.

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Whoa!

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Straight to it!

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I don't know if I can stop the intermediates.

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You are so strong.

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You are so strong.

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Oh my god!

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Maybe I could figure out a way to reach the first move.

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Like...

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This boulder demands a style and finger strength that very few possess.

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Okay.

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There is no margin for error.

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I have to like, almost put in like a flawless performance in a physical and psychological sense.

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And so far, we've only seen one repeat.

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Nice, Sean, come on.

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Sean Bailey can use tiny holes like no other.

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This is crazy.

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This is crazy stuff.

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Nice, Sean!

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And to be honest, I'm pretty sure this boulder will never get a repeat by me.

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The holes are just too small.

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Yeah, you touch it.

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You did as good as me.

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It was this close.

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You touch it a bit.

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Like this and not like this.

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I pretended it was a big sloper.

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I went like full on high five on the hold.

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For me, the holds just didn't make sense.

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But for Stefano, they did.

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Oh, let's go!

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Let's go, dude!

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Yes, yes, yes!

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That's a move, man.

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That's a move.

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That's a move.

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That's a move.

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Yes.

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I'm so psyched.

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That was so cool.

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Dude, nice work.

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We finally got a move.

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And more moves were coming.

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But first, let's do a little comparison.

214

Because see, just 50 meters away lies a true classic.

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A classic 8C by Dave Graham from back in the days.

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Bonjour, I am Dave.

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We are here in a strange part of the forest.

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A boulder that might have the hardest mantle in the world.

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Now, now, now!

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Go off!

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Why is it faster than me?

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Are we going to get a little comparison of just how a 9A can look compared to an 8C?

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Maybe it's going to be worse.

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I really hope not.

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Because then I'm in for a bad day of climbing.

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This is from Dirt Grossed Flowers, a boulder that became this teenager's first 8C.

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Now it's our turn to try it.

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Yes, come on!

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Come on!

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Let's go dude!

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Strong flash go though!

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Really strong flash go!

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Not bad, maybe this one was better.

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Yeah, maybe the lower one.

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I can feel the difference from the one before and this one.

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Holes are much, much better.

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50 times as big.

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We were starting to collect moves and it became pretty clear the difference between 9a and 8c is huge.

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I mean on the 9a I couldn't do a single move.

240

I could barely hang on the holds.

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So strong this one.

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But here, I was feeling like a climber again.

243

Oh, it's so slimy!

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Okay.

245

Oh my God, I could hear that.

246

Yeah.

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I think this is one of the world's hardest mantles, and I can kind of see why.

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Small hole here.

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There.

250

Yes, dude!

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Let's go!

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Come on, come on!

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Yes, yes, yes.

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Dude!

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Those are the worst looking holes I have ever seen in my entire life.

256

Ah It's painful Wow Okay Oh Another move!

257

Come on dude, I got you Oh, sorry The tiny foot hole This is a good one, but you did this move so that's another move So how many did I do?

258

One, two One and a half plus another Yeah, half doesn't count.

259

It was time for me to add a move to the collection.

260

Okay, that's it.

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No, I mean, it's not possible.

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Yeah, it's weird.

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But just like this isn't just about strength, it's also about pain.

264

Each hold is like a blade pressing deeper into your fingers every time you try it.

265

Oh, closer!

266

Sharp rock is peeling off your skin layer by layer.

267

Ah!

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Hell yeah!

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Painful?

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Every time it's more painful.

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And eventually, there's not much left.

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Oh no. Oh no, wow!

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It's just sharp.

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Are you just using super glue?

275

Yes.

276

You glue yourself together and keep going. But eventually...

277

You have to surrender.

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And now I see.

279

Okay, now stop.

280

Yeah, let's see it.

281

Let the skin rest.

282

Yes, it's.. yeah.

283

Back on the 8C, I was making progress.

284

It was hard, but I was on the wall making moves, and it felt great.

285

Oh, yes!

286

Come on, come on, come on!

287

Okay, okay.

288

Yeah! That was...

289

That was an improvement.

290

A big improvement.

291

I was like, too psyched that I stuck the move, So I was like, oh yeah, what do I do?

292

And Stefano kept impressing with impossible moves.

293

Come on.

294

Come on.

295

No way, dude.

296

No way.

297

What the fuck?

298

It is working.

299

Yeah, I could feel something.

300

He's 90% sure he's gonna send it now, he said.

301

I didn't...

302

I never said that.

303

I'm paraphrasing, but it sounded like it, yeah.

304

a thousand ice creams if he does it now.

305

I think if you haven't done the mantle, I mean, I don't think you can climb this boulder before having done it once.

306

Stefano went for a final sand go with a thousand ice cream scoops on the line.

307

Nice, come on. So strong.

308

There you go.

309

So much fun dude, come on.

310

Whoa.

311

Come on.

312

Oh, dude, come on.

313

Oh, dude.

314

I mean the hard part starts there.

315

That was so good.

316

Well, I mean...

317

Good work, dude.

318

That was not that bad for the first time. For sure.

319

Like actually, for me, pretty mind-blowing progress.

320

All right, I think we're gonna start rounding off this session.

321

Yes.

322

Thank you for joining.

323

Thank you, it was very fun.

324

Hope you guys enjoyed seeing the difference between these two boulders and the boulderers.

325

Both actually and we'll see in the next video

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191 sentences

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This video has 325 sentences and 1954 words to shadow. The speech runs for 17:07. The speaker talks at a steady 114 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 82% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
boulder noun	/ˈboʊl.dɚ/	A large mass of stone detached from the surrounding land.
climb verb	/ˈklaɪ̯m/	To traverse a slope or contour, either upwards (ascending) or downwards (descending).
flash verb	/flæʃ/	To cause to shine briefly or intermittently.
finger noun	/ˈfɪŋɡɚ/	A slender jointed extremity of the human hand, (often) exclusive of the thumb, and the corresponding part, irrespective of including a thumb, in many other…
arrival noun	/əˈɹaɪ.vl̩/	The act of arriving (reaching a certain place).
painful adjective	/ˈpeɪn.fl̩/	Causing pain or distress, either physical or mental.
whoa	/woʊ/	Stop (especially when commanding a horse or imitative thereof); calm down; slow down.
mantle noun	/ˈmæn.təl/	A piece of clothing somewhat like an open robe or cloak, especially that worn by Orthodox bishops.
sharp adjective	/ʃɑɹp/	Terminating in a point or edge, especially one that can cut or pierce easily; not dull, obtuse, or rounded.
layer noun	/ˈleɪ̯ɚ/	A single thickness of some material covering a surface.
discover verb	/dɪˈskʌvə/	To find or learn something for the first time.
footage noun	/ˈfʊtɪd͡ʒ/	An amount of film or tape that has been used to record something, or the content of the recording.
margin noun	/ˈmɑɹ.d͡ʒɪn/	The edge of the paper, typically left blank when printing but sometimes used for annotations etc.
ladder noun	/ˈlæd.ɚ/	A frame, usually portable, of wood, metal, or rope, used for ascent and descent, consisting of two side pieces to which are fastened rungs (cross strips or…
glue noun	/ɡlu/	A hard gelatin made by boiling bones and hides, used in solution as an adhesive; or any sticky adhesive substance.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
figure out verb	To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce.
find out verb	To discover, as by asking or investigating.
go off verb	To explode.

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 37 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, doesn't, gonna. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: flash /flæʃ/, sharp /ʃɑɹp/, establish /ɪˈstæb.lɪʃ/, brush /bɹʌʃ/, casual /ˈkæʒ(u)əl/
Long words — get the stress right: psychological /ˌsaɪ.kəˈlɑː.d͡ʒɪ.kl̩/, intermediate /ɪn.tə(ɹ)ˈmi.di.ət/, preposition /ˌpɹɛpəˈzɪʃən/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like boulder, climb, flash.

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	has climbed · I've climbed · have arrived
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	someone who you · somebody who has · Alphane, which is

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: I've NEVER Seen A Climb This Hard.. And Nobody Talks About It - Learn English Speaking with Video

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

Grammar in this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?